


The waves are crashing down on you and me

by whynotcherries



Series: Such sweet nothing [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beaches, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves Friendship, Ben Hargreeves Deserves Better, Ben Hargreeves-centric, Family Fluff, Gen, Ghost Ben Hargreeves, Good Sibling Klaus Hargreeves, Good Sibling Vanya Hargreeves, Pre-Canon, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, ben is a happy ghost, extra chapter, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:07:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22660729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whynotcherries/pseuds/whynotcherries
Summary: Vanya, Klaus, and Diego give Ben something he's always wanted.ORBeach holiday with the Even Numbers Club + VanyaPart of the 'We lost track of time' series (but you don't necessarily have to read it to understand).
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: Such sweet nothing [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630267
Comments: 4
Kudos: 138





	The waves are crashing down on you and me

**Author's Note:**

> Those of you who commented on 'We lost track of time' were so nice and I got a lot of requests to add to it! I did this and realized that it didn't quite match what I had in mind for the next parts of it (if I were to continue it) so I decided to make a little bonus series for chapters that don't quite fit into my (I guess two, now) WIPs. 
> 
> I hope you all like this despite the lack of a strong connection between it and the first part!

_**September 2008** _

Klaus and Vanya sit on the couch, his head in her lap, his feet hanging off of the end of the bed, “We should do something for our birthday,” she suggests, setting down her cup on the side table.

Ben appears in the corner chair, effectively scaring the life out of Vanya, and jumps up the minute he realizes he’s corporeal, “Can we go to the beach?!” he exclaims, looking between Vanya and Klaus like a little kid.

Klaus and Vanya both make eye contact and Vanya looks particularly sorry as she says, “I don’t think the beach will be very fun right now, it’s really cold already.”

She feels a pang in her chest at the disappointed look on Ben’s face as he sits back down in his chair.

* * *

_**July 2009** _

Ben walks into the kitchen- fully visible, mind you- to find his brother and sister sitting at the table waiting for him, “What’s goin’ on?” he asks, plopping down into one of the empty seats.

Klaus, never the type to keep quiet about things, immediately blurts out, “We’re going to the beach,” before Vanya can even get a word out. She reaches over and smacks his arm.

Ben sits, completely dumbfounded- this is what he’d wanted his _entire life_. He’d read all the books about the ocean, started studying aquatic science at thirteen- he hadn’t shut up about wanting to go to the beach since he’d found out that you could actually _go to the beach._

It takes a minute for it to completely register in his mind that, yes, they’re actually being serious.

“Really?!” he practically shrieks, “When? How long are we staying? Oh, god, I need a _swimsuit_!” he spews, standing and throwing himself at Klaus, “Can we go get a swimsuit? Wait, can we afford a swimsuit? I might not ever wear it again, we shouldn-” 

“Ben!” Vanya exclaims, “We can afford a swimsuit,” she assures, stepping forward to hug him. 

Ben stops to hug her for a minute before looking between her and Klaus, “We’re going to the beach,” he whispers, going back into a shocked state.

Vanya beams up at him, “We’re going to the beach,” she confirms, “and guess what?”

He doesn’t even remember how to respond to that, so he just stands, still _gaping_ , “Diego’s coming, too,” she states.

Ben’s eyes blow up, “Diego’s coming?!” he exclaims, looking between his two present siblings- he’s still not sure that he believes this, that it’s _real_.

Diego had been over frequently since Klaus had started being able to manifest him, and he’d quickly gotten used to being around the brother he’d been so close to as a kid- they’d stayed up so late once that Klaus had nearly passed out from the effort of trying to keep Ben present. It was like they were kids again, whenever Diego came over.

Ben loved it. 

He liked being around as many of his siblings at once as he could, even when he wasn’t corporeal, but now that he was, now that they could _see_ him? That made it even better. 

He nearly starts crying as he jumps back into Klaus and Vanya’s arms.

* * *

Ben hands Diego the cooler, earning an almost offended look. “Why do I have to carry it? You have arms,” Diego complains, but still accepts it.

“I haven’t been more than thirty feet away from Klaus since he started being able to manifest me. What happens if he loses connection? All of the sodas will explode,” he defends, smirking.

Diego huffs and rolls his eyes, but walks away smiling.

Ben turns around once Diego walks out the door, retreating back into the house, “Klaus! C’mon!” he calls, walking towards the room that he ‘shared’ with his brother- in reality, he didn’t take up much space (not needing to sleep meant that he didn’t even need a bed), so it wasn’t _really_ sharing. 

Klaus throws a sandal over his shoulder, effectively hitting Ben in the arm, “Hey!”

“Please, you’re a ghost. You don’t have _nerves_ ,” he dismisses, digging through a drawer in the corner, “I’m just trying to find the other flip-flop, then we can go,” he states.

Ben sighs, throwing his head back, “Klaus,” he groans.

“It’s not like we can be late on a road trip, Benny,” he argues before stopping abruptly and grabbing something from the middle of the drawer, “A-ha! I found it!” he exclaims, standing and shoving it into his suitcase- his _second_ suitcase- before zipping it up and tugging it off the bed.

He turns to Ben, grinning like a maniac, “Off we go!” he says, pointing his hand out like a superhero before running as fast as he can out of the room while tugging his suitcase behind him.

* * *

Ben settles himself down in the front seat beside Diego, putting the mixtape Vanya had made into the CD player, “Can we get snacks?” he asks, turning around to look at Vanya.

She nods, smiling reassuringly at him, “We can get whatever you want,” she promises. He feels his eyes begin to tear up and he turns around to look in front of him.

They drive for a while longer on the freeway until Diego comes across an exit sign, “There’s a 7-Eleven in a mile,” he points out, “we can stop there for some snacks,” he suggests. 

Ben smiles to himself as they take the exit and pull into the parking lot.

* * *

They pull into the hotel parking lot at eleven o’clock, unloading all of their stuff from the car before walking into the lobby, “Hi, we booked a room for Ben Hargreeves,” Vanya says and Ben is _barely_ able to contain his excitement- they hadn’t exactly told him that the room was _in his name._

Of course, he knew that they booked it. He knew that they only booked one because he _asked_ them to only book one- he’d wanted to spend as much time with all of them as humanly possible, even though he lived with two of them. But, he hadn’t known that they put it in his name, and somehow it made the experience of staying in a hotel _for fun_ even more authentic.

He’d be lying if he said that he’d ever wanted anything more than this trip.

He’d also be lying if he said that it was anything short of what he’d imagined so far. 

Back when they were kids and he’d thought about this trip, about going to the beach for the first time, he’d imagined that he’d be on his own- at the very best with Vanya alone. Of course, he’d wanted to go with all of his siblings, but he _knew_ that that wouldn’t be a reality. Being with _three_ of them? He couldn’t have wished for anything more.

* * *

They all stand on the beach together. It’s sunny and hot and he’s sure he’d be sweating if he _could_ sweat, but that doesn’t make it any less real. 

Diego’s behind him, unfolding a blanket and putting up an umbrella, all while singing some song that he’s never heard before. Vanya’s helping him. Klaus is standing beside Ben, staring out at the water with him.

Ben has tears in his eyes.

He couldn’t have ever _imagined_ that one day he’d be here with _this much_ of his family. 

Somehow, right now, he feels more alive than he ever did while he was living.

* * *

“It’s cold, just give me a minute,” Diego protests, standing ankle-deep in the water.

Klaus groans, mockingly, “Come _on_ , Diego! This is your _dead brother’s_ wish, shouldn’t you be trying to fulfil it?” he teases, standing up to his chest in the water, already completely soaked.

Vanya sputters from where she’s standing, the water up to about her waist, “ _Klaus_!” she scolds, staring at her brother with wide eyes.

“No, I think he’s right, Van’,” Ben protests. Since they’ve been arguing, Diego’s made it to where he’s up to his own waist in the water, just a couple of feet further than where Vanya is, “he shouldn’t miss out on all the _fun_ ,” he says before going up behind Diego and jumping on his back.

This gives Diego quite a shock and he falls under Ben’s weight, shoving his brother off of him in the water. He stands up, spitting out water, “You _jerk_!” he yells, laughing as he lurches after Ben, picking him up just enough that he can throw him in the water with a splash.

* * *

They load in the car after five days at the beach. 

It’s Vanya’s turn to start off the drive this time, Ben sitting beside her. “So,” she says, turning to face him, just as they’re about to leave, “how was it?” 

He beams back at her, “It was everything I ever wanted.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it, I love reading them! :)


End file.
